Lock control devices for automobile doors



April 1957 R. A. GILMOUR LOCK CQNTROL DEVICES FUR AUTOMOBILE DOORS Filed Sept. 8, 1954 INVENTOR ROBERT A. GILMOUR 47 W ATTORNEY LOCK CONTROL DEVICES FOR AUTOMOBILE DOORS Robert A. Gilmour, Somerset, Pa.

Application September 8, 1954, Serial No. 454,669

'1 Claim. (Cl. 292347) This invention relates to an improved lock control device designed for use in connection with the conventional type of lock for a motor vehicle door, and being somewhat of the construction disclosed in my co-pending application for Letters Patent bearing filing date March 5, 1954, and Serial Number 414,269, now abandoned.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a more efiicient lock control device of the character described, which cannot be operated by a young child to unlock the vehicle door after the latter has once been locked, and thereby eliminate the hazards frequently resulting when a child accidently unlocks and opens the door and falls from the vehicle even when the latter is not in motion and especially when the vehicle is travelling along a highway.

Further important objects and advantages of the invention are to provide a device of the class stated, which may be readily attached to any conventional type of motor vehicle door lock without any change in the construction of the latter, which makes it more difiicult for an unauthorized person to unlock the door from the outside of the vehicle, which is simple in its construction and arrangement, durable, compact, and comparatively economical in its manufacture and maintenance.

To the accomplishment of these and such other objects as may hereinafter appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts herein specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but it is to be understood that the latter is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that changes in the form, proportions and details of construction may be resorted to that come within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the lock control device connected with the locking mechanism, and illus trates its position with respect to the car window ledge when the device is in the unlocking position, and Figure 2 is a similar view of the device in the locking position.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the window ledge and shows the device in section when in the unlocking position, and Figure 4 is a similar view showing the device in the locking position.

Figure 5 is a greatly enlarged vertical sectional view of the handle member and connecting bushing assembled with associated parts.

Figure 6 is an enlarged side elevational View of the connecting bushing.

Figure 7 is a transverse cross sectional view of the connecting bushing taken on line 7-7, Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a transverse cross sectional view of the device taken on line 8-8, Figure 5.

The improved lock control device simply replaces the conventional type of small manipulating handle now in common use, and which projects through an aperture 1 nited States Patent O 2,788,235 Patented Apr. 9, 1957 in the bottom ledge 2 of the vehicle door window and which is attached to the upper end of the operating rod 3. The operating rod has its lower end pivotally connected to the locking bar 4 of the locking mechanism in a manner whereby when the handle is depressed the locking bar will be actuated to secure the associated locking bolt 5 in the locking position, and when the handle is elevated the locking bar will shift to release the locking bar from the locking position in the well known manner.

In the use of the improved lock control device it is necessary to provide a comparatively short clearance slot 6 in the bottom ledge 2 of the vehicle window, and which slot 6 opens into the aperture 1 for the purpose to be described.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the lock control device comprises a tubular, cylindrical, connecting bushing 7 having an adjustable screw thread connection with the upper end of the operating rod 3. The wall of the connecting bushing is provided with a side opening 8 including a pair of holding notches, respectively indicated at Q and it), which are formed in the top wall of the opening 3. The walls of the holding notch 9 are squared to augment their holding action and the walls of the notch 16 are preferably curved to somewhat lessen their holding action.

A cylindrical, tubular handle member 11, having an open lower end is mounted on the connecting bushing 7 and generally encloses the latter. The upper end of the handle member is closed by an enlarged head 12, which is preferably knurled to facilitate the manipulation of the device in the manner to be described.

The upper end of the connecting bushing 7 is spaced from the top of. the handle member 11, and a stiff spiral spring 13 is mounted in the handle member between the closed top of the latter and the upper end of the connecting bushing. The handle member is vertically slidable on the connecting bushing and the normal action of the spring tends to force the handle member upwardly on the connecting bushing.

A set screw 14 is removably mounted in the side wall of the handle member 11 and projects laterally from the surface of the latter. The inner end of the set screw is flat and projects into the side opening 8 in the connecting bushing 7. This engagement of the set screw in the side opening prevents the removal of the handle member from the connecting bushing, and further limits the vertical movements of the handle member on the connecting bushing to a distance commensurate to the combined heights of the side opening and either one of the holding notches 9, It).

In assembling the device, the connecting bushing 7 is adjusted and secured on the upper end of the operating rod 3 to position the holding notch 10, in the connecting bushing in direct vertical alignment with the slot 6 in the window ledge 2.

When the device is in the unlocking position, the handle member 11 will be in the elevated position, shown in Figure 1, with the outwardly projecting end of the set screw 14 disposed above the top surface of the window ledge 2 and in registration with the slot 6, and the inwardly projecting end of the set screw will be held seated in the holding notch 10 in the connecting bushing 7 by the action of the spring 13.

To lock the locking mechanism, the lock control device is first depressed to sufficiently lower the operating rod 3 to cause the locking engagement of the locking bar 4 with the locking bolt 5 and whereby the outwardly projecting end of the set screw 14 will pass through the ledge slot 6 and will be disposed beneath the window ledge 2. The handle member 11 is then further depressed, against the action of the spring 13, to thereby force the inwardly projecting end of the set screw into assesses the side opening 8, after which the handle member is given a one-quarter turn on the connecting bushing and released to allow the action of the spring to seat the inwardly projecting end of the set screw in the holding notch 9. The handle member now cannot now'be .elevated to unlock the locking mechanism, as the outwardly projecting end of the set screw will abut against the underside of the window ledge 53.

For unlocking the locking mechanism, the above described operation is simply reversed. The handle member 11 is first depressed, against the action of the spring 13, until the inwardly projecting end .of the set screw 14 is forced from the holding notch 9 into the side opening 8, after which the handle member is given a one-quarter turn on the connecting bushing '7 and released to allow the action of the spring to seat the inwardly disposed end of the set screw in the holding notch it It will here be noted that the walls of the holding notch 9 are straight and squared so that the set screw 14 is not likely to accidently escape the engaged notch 9, and that the spiral spring 33 is stiff so that it will require considerable pressure upon the handle member 11 to force the set screw from its locking engagement in the holding notch 9, so obviously a young child could not operate the control device to unlock the vehicle door. Two distinct operations of the lock control device are required to position the device in either the locking or unlocking position. The handle member must be first depressed against the action of the spring and then partially rotated on the connecting bushing 7 to effect either operation, thereby rendering the device even more intricate for a child to operate.

As clearly shown in Figure 5, the bore of the handle member 11 may be offset with respect to the diametric center of the latter, to form a wall thickness at one side of the handle member providing ample stock for properly engaging the set screw 13 in the handle member.

The present invention provides a most efli'cient device of its kind, which may be economically constructed and successfully employed for the purposes and in the manner herein set forth.

What I claim is:

A control device for a motor vehicle door lock including an operating rod extending through an aperture in the window sill of the vehicle door, comprising, in combination, a bushing adjustably attached to the upper end of the operating rod and being positioned in the sill aperture, said bushing provided with a side opening including a pair of spaced "holding notches, said notches formed in the top wall of said side opening, a tubular handle member shiftably mounted for vertical and partially rotary movement on .said. bushing and enclosing the latter, a removable screw element carried by said member projecting laterally outward from said member and into said side opening, a spring mounted in said member normally forcing the latter to the elevated position on said bushing and into either of said notches, said member when in the elevated position disposing said element above the window sill and in one of said notches to hold the operating rod in the released position, said memher when in the depressed position disposing said element against the under face of the window and in the other of said notches to hold the operating rod in the locking position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,602,351 Ringler et al. July 8, 1952 2,629,246 Schumann Feb. 24, 1953 2,666,339 Schwarz Jan. 19, 1954 

